grahambowmanrobertson

[grahambowmanrobertson]

“Don’t just do something, stand there.” -Rumi

It recently occurred to me that forcing myself to sit [relatively] still, in [relative] silence, for 8 hours a day would probably cure most of my mental and emotional problems. I most likely will not do this anytime soon because I am a full time student; nevertheless I do believe I could heal, through quiet sitting, the damage I’ve done in my life.

For some reason, this got me wondering. What if there was a website that payed people to sit in front of a webcam for a predetermined amount of time and do nothing in particular? 

Not only could this be entertaining, but it could catalyze personal growth for people who are stuck in life, have no job, suffer from mental illness, etc. It could also provide a basis for clinical research, see what makes people tick, see what helps people reach their full potential. This could also teach the subjects how to overcome fear and anxiety, since they will be forced to sit and accept that the world won’t explode if they put life on hold for a few hours. I don’t know about you, but much of my inner turmoil comes from my inability to accept the things I cannot change in the world and in myself. 

Do we not already put life on hold for eight hours a day under the sole assumption that we will be okay if we get enough money? If yes, then what difference will it make if I am doing “nothing” or “something” for those eight hours? For most people, it is a coincidence that they build skills and relationships while making  money, but one can also improve themselves on their own time provided they have the resources to do so. 

To shake things up a bit and provide ad revenue to pay the subjects for their time, the platform could invite an audience to vote on what you can and can’t do. Like a button next to one’s stream that says “Is this cool?” and the audience could perpetually vote on whether or not the subject’s activity is acceptable. Of course this would have some limits, and it would be in the website administration’s best interest to tell them what they can and can’t do under their terms of agreement (i.e. terms of payment). 

For instance, the admin might set limits on sexual activity, eating, drinking, drug use, computer and smartphone use, music, talking, dancing, walking etc. Past the few big no-no’s, the subject could do whatever they want provided they stay within these parameters. If these terms are breached for any length of time, the subject is simply not paid for that time. They are only paid for as long as they sit in silence. 

Let’s poke some holes in this idea and see if it can’t be done.

[grahambowmanrobertson]

neighborhood self-government using blockchain technology

warning: the following is ramblings about some very specific points i’ve been mulling around for months and and I’m only now having the clarity needed to put them into words. this may make zero sense to you, but these are big breakthroughs in project that I am not ready to refine and publish. 

This idea could easily be built on top of the Steemit ecosystem. Somehow set up smart contracts with a test neighborhood. Delineate what one must do to certify their real estate holdings (i.e. provide documents to prove ownership/ the existence of a household entity--landlords and AirBNB residents would somehow have lesser or no privileges unless there are permanent tenants--the tenants would somehow have equal say to the landlords if they can prove who lives there/how many). the largest voting unit is one household instead of one vote per person. 

a crypto coin would be created in the name of said neighborhood. the coin supply would be divided among all verified households in a predetermined neighborhood boundary. The initial dollar amount would be a predetermined goal (decided based on coin supply/divided by the estimated number of residents per neighborhood) that would be reached through a crowd funded ICO.

People in the household will be invited by mail to join the platform, verify residence, and receive voting tokens. they will then be invited to download an app where they can log in and actually put real dollars into proposals they want to see happen. (these dollars are given through smart contracts when a person verifies their residence).

anyone in the world can access the dApp (decentralized app built on STEEM blockchain), which displays neighborhood data/ voting proposals/how money is being spent, project progress, but only people who can prove monthly residency will gain access to a vote worth money. One’s STEEM identity as a resident of X neighborhood will be public but will be anonymized.

the people’s choice vote is simply a poll taken alongside the vote that allows public participation without affecting the money going towards a project, i.e. would not affect the outcome of the vote or the money put towards the project.

(these funds would be distributed in STEEM backed dollars and would be divided between any and everyone who can prove monthly residency in the household). 

[grahambowmanrobertson]

The sun speaks to me about the radiance of Your countenance, and the stars about the harmony of Your being. The sun speaks in one language, and the stars speak in a different language, but all the languages flow out of the same vocal cords. The vocal cords belong to You, and You uttered the first sound that began to tremble in the deafness and formlessness of nothingness, and it broke into countless sounds and heralds, as a thundercloud breaks into rain drops.

PRAYERS ON THE LAKE

[grahambowmanrobertson]

“St. Antony the Great was once asked by a philosopher where his books were. He replied, “My book, O philosopher, is the world.” St. Paul also sees this aspect of creation: “For since the creation of the world [God’s] invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead” (Romans 1:20).

For much of the modern world, this capacity of creation has become the opacity of creation. We can see no further than the thing itself. Modern man is in danger of losing his ability to read the references of everything about him. And with that loss comes the diminution of everything, including himself.

The world and all that is in it is given to us as icon, not because it has no value in itself, but because the value it has in itself is the gift of God—and this is seen in its iconicity. Another person can be my entry into Paradise, or just as clearly my entry into Hades (and both in a far deeper sense than the merely moral). Love alone reveals things for what they are and transforms them into what they were always intended to be. Love alone reveals the true shape of the universe.”

Excerpt From: Fr Stephen Freeman. “Everywhere Present.”

[grahambowmanrobertson]

Details from #SanVitale, #Ravenna, - Particolare della Basilica di San Vitale. Costituite da pulvino, capitello basato su quello corinzio.

[grahambowmanrobertson]

We find that the ultimate questions of architecture and art sometimes touch some incalculable depth between the made work (building, painting, ornament, street) and the inner "I" which each of us experiences. What I call "the I" is that interior element in a work of art, or in a work of nature, which makes one feel related to it. It may occur in a leaf, or in a picture, in a house, in a wave, even in a grain of sand, or in an ornament. It is not ego. It is not me. It is not individual at all, having to do with me, or you. It is humble. and enormous: that thing in common which each one of us has in us. It is the spirit which animates each living center.

Christopher Alexander

The Nature of Order: An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe, Book 4: The Luminous Ground

[grahambowmanrobertson]

Gold Ring with Jasper Gem, #Byzantine, 5/6 Century.

[grahambowmanrobertson]

[grahambowmanrobertson]

November 2016

15 minute selfie Charcoal pastel 10 x 16 inches

[grahambowmanrobertson]

I work for a bricklayer who draws animals too

[grahambowmanrobertson]

November 2016. Ink stippling assignment.

Colosseum Ink pen on paper 18 x 24 inches

[grahambowmanrobertson]

November 2016. Design principles assignment.

Left:

Model Cardboard 6 x 6 inches

Right:

Final product: symmetry, hierarchy, positive space Birch plywood 18 x 18 inches

[grahambowmanrobertson]

Byzantine Christian mosaics from Syria, C. A.D. 400 Kimbell Art Museum Fort Worth, TX

[grahambowmanrobertson]

November 2016. Design principles assignment.

Left:

Model Cardboard 6 x 6 inches

Right:

Final product: symmetry, hierarchy, positive space Birch plywood 18 x 18 inches